Loki is thin, pale, and draped in chains, his mouth clamped shut with silver, standing in the middle of the vast throne room surrounded by soldiers. Odin walks slowly around him. The silence is crushing. Loki only managed a few months on the throne and he has been imprisoned for a year in a section of the dungeon best described by the word 'harrowing'.

"You do not deserve mercy for what you have done. But I made a promise to your mother not to kill you. You will be sent to Midgard to live as one of them. Stripped of your long life and magic, you will learn what it was you tried to destroy."

Loki can say nothing in reply.

"I cast you out."

Naked and afraid, Loki huddles in the desert at night, shivering. He has no idea where he is, or what to expect. He hates the idea of being found. There is nothing around him but darkness. Even the stars are strange.

As the dawn greys, the Bifrost opens. He wants to run, but he is to embarrassed of his condition to stand. Thor approaches and crouches down in front of him. He hands him a set of clothes and Loki dresses quickly. Thor drapes a blanket around his shoulders.

"Come, Brother. Father has told me of your punishment. I know where you can stay."

"Doesn't everyone you know in this realm prefer me dead?"

"Not everyone."

"Everyone but possibly your lady?"

Thor does not answer, but lifts Loki and twirls Mjolnir, "Hang on." They fly.

Thor lands on the deck of a very tall building in a very tall city that Loki recognizes from the sky, "You brought me here. Why did you bring me to the one city in Midgard where everyone universally hates me?"

"Because it is where Anthony lives and has a guest apartment."

"I am certain I will be unwelcome."

Tony Stark meets them at the door, "Um...why is he here?"

"Father has banished him. He will cause you no harm."

"Yeah, not buying it." He turns to Loki, "And if you break anything, I'll call in the Hulk."

Loki stares at the ground.

"Do not fear, Anthony, for my father has also stripped him of his long life and his magic- he is no different than you."

"How is that even possible?"

"He is the All-Father."

"So why is he here?"

"Because he needs a place to sleep."

"Whoa whoa whoa...you want me to put him up?"

"I have no other place to take him until I can make other arrangements."

"I don't like this."

"I know. But please, Anthony. My brother needs help and I know nowhere else to find it. All I ask is that you give him a bed and sustenance until I can guarantee it otherwise."

Tony glares hard at Loki and Loki seems to shrink, "OK, but we're having an Avengers meeting first. Almost everybody's already here. Holiday weekend."

"I thought you were no longer officially with the Avengers?"

"Eh, except when we get together for pizza and beer."

A few minutes later, Loki tries to hide in an overstuffed armchair while Thor explains in painstaking detail just what his father has decreed. No one in the room looks comfortable.

"So how long do you think he'll be here?" Steve asks.

"I do not know. I hope to secure other lodging within a fortnight."

"Two weeks under my roof. Thor, you're asking me to spend two weeks with the guy who got me killed...or nearly killed. I don't like this. And it's my tower. So he's going to be under security. And far enough away from me that I don't think about the whole window thing."

"I do not ask that you accept him as an honoured guest. Only that you give him the kindness of shelter and sustenance."

"Good, because that's the only kindness he's getting from me."

Vision watches. It is his nature, to watch.

"I think we can manage two weeks," Steve says. Tony glares at him, "Well if he's just like people who aren't superheroes, we should be fine, right? He doesn't have super strength. He's not strapped to Tony's suits, there's no magic...he's just another guy. What could he do to us that we couldn't stop?"

"Cap's got a point," Sam adds, "It's not like he's one of us."

Loki hugs his knees and tries to tap into anything he could use to literally disappear. There is nothing left. No magic. No energy stemming from Yggdrasil. Nothing singing in his mind when he finds just the right tendril. There are no tendrils at all.

"Fine, fine, you guys win. We'll put him up."

Thor bows, "Thank you. I owe you a debt."

"Yeah, whatever. Just get him out of here as fast as you can."